Oedipus

In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is a classic tragic hero. According to Aristotle's definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a king whose life falls apart when he finds out his life story. There are a number of characteristics described by Aristotle that identify a tragic hero. For example, a tragic hero must cause his own downfall; his fate is not deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness. Oedipus is in love with his idealized self, but neither the grandiose nor the depressive Narcissus can really love himself . All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy, and a narcissist.

The Tempest

The Tempest works in the realm of fantasy, magic, spirits, unlikely coincidences. I think it is a lighthearted, escapist work rather than a “serious” drama. This drama provides an arena for much interplay between illusion and reality.  Prospero, Duke of Milan, facilitates this interplay.  Prospero uses the study of magic to disillusion the other characters brought to the island by way of the tempest. At times it can seem like a serious drama since there is a lot of talk about revenge, but then we see that there is a lot of redemptions also in the play. In the end we see that there is a happy ending to the story.

A Doll's House

 In the play "A Doll House" the main character, Nora, is in a situation where she is caused to act, emotionally and physically, as a doll to please her husband. Nora has to be very sneaky and conniving in order to be perfect and talked down to by her husband. The themes from this story are the same as the themes from previous stories such as "A Rose For Emily", "Chrysanthemums", and "The Yellow Wallpaper", where we can see the  dominating role of men in society versus the weak role of women. The theme from “ A Doll House” is  a little different when compared to other short stories and poems because here Nora leaves her husband at the end rather than keep getting depressed and emotionally unstable.

Drama Translation

I personally believe we all understand something so much better if we visually see something rather then read it because that is boring sometimes hard to concentrate on. I also believe if your a part of an act in a play it's much more interesting because you get involved into the character and portray something much more efficient. The only down side of this can is one would assume it's an easy task to write a play but its much more then when a bunch of people come together and try to put their ideas on the table. You then have to sort out and deal with everyone's unique ideas and try to fit it into one single master piece.

Drafting...revising...small groups...

The process of drafting, revising, and working in small groups really helped me understand all the short stories, poems, and plays a lot better. Sharing thoughts with the rest of the group was also very helpful because they had some interesting ideas that I would have not thought all on my own. I really enjoyed these small group talks because you learn more when you can have one-on-one interaction with someone, where as discussions in larger groups like a class doesn't do much for kids that don't raise their hands and don't share their thoughts with everyone.

7th Blog

My view of poetry in general changed a lot through out my researches for my paper. Poetry expresses a person's opinion or it can set a mood. You can become suddenly depressed because of what was written or you the exact opposite could happen. I'm really beginning to appreciate poetry because it can literally change the focus on your "lens" on life, you can learn new words, new cultures, and sometimes it even offers a different interpretation of a situation that was seen otherwise. Poetry has such deep meaning in every line that if not understood correctly one can miss the entire meaning of something so powerful written.

6th Blog

The poem that i found the hardest to comprehend was "The Flea." Reading it the first time I didn't see what a fly has to do with one's sex life or being in love or even wanting to have sex. I thought this poem was confusing because the flea could symbolize multiple things depending on how the reader analyzes the poem. After reading the poem I believed it symbolized the faith that brings people together. "And this flea our two bloods mingled be," stood out to me when thinking this way. Although after reading the footnotes, I know the poem is about love and sex. But overall, i found this poem a little confusing. The poem that I found the easiest to understand was "Richard Cory." It's easy to follow and you get the point of the poem right away about a guy who everyone admires and looks up to but little do they know he's tired of his own life and kills himself.